Walter peck



@hitch '1st-2s getwi- @fitteA WALTER PECK, 0E IwoKroRD, ILLIo-IS. AssIeNoE To WILLIAM' JOBEs- SETE H. IIILLs, AND AMELIA o. PECK, 0E SAME PLAGE.

i Letters .Patent No. 81,816, dzted September 1, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT III WINDMILLS.

'.lO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN1`- Be itknown that I, WALTEIt PECK, of Rockford, in the county of Winnebago, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and improved Windmill; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention consists 'of certain :novel devices, to be hereinafter more fully described, whereby the fans of a windmill are automatically feathered or adjusted at a-varied angle to the direction of the wind, and the speed thus regulated.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may be able to make and use the same, I will proceed to describe its construction andoperation.

Inthe drawings which make part of this specication- ,Figure 1 is a central vertical section of my improved windmill, representing the shaft on which the fans revolve, and the guide-fan in the same vertical plane with main vertical column, and theipitman and shaft which raise the weighted arm. I, i

Figure 2 represents a view of 4the sliding sleeve, on the shaft, and the arms which connect'this sleeve to the eccentrically-pivoted fans.v

Figure 3 shows more fully the springs, detente, and levers, by which tlic'regulting-devices are operated. Figure 4, the lever and weight. i l

The sanne letters refer to identical parts in all the figures.

The fans A AfA of this windmill Aare supported, and revolve, as usual, on a horizontal shaft, the draw- 'ings marked B.

Upon the end of this shaft, which has bearings a a', is a solid circular casting, b', having on its corrugated or groovedface, theradial arms c c c, screwed cr'bolted thereto. 'On -these arms, which extend suliciently along' each fan to insure stability, are pivotedtho fans A A, Ste., each fan being pivoted eccentically,iand restingV on the shoulder on the supporting-arm; `the fans by this arrangement being capable of turning any angle to the wind. 4 v

On the shaft B slides freely a sleeve, so ttcd, either by groove and feather,4 or by conformity to the, shape of the shaft, thatfit' will turn with the shaft.v On the outer lend of this sleeve, at the periphery, are m'ovably pivoted, vor otherwise suitably attached, radial braces or arms, e e e, one for each fan, the outer end of the arms being hinged or movably pivoted to the end of the fan, in such a manner that when the Asleeve is drawn back on the shaft B, the fans, through the radialnrms', are turned, being, when arranged as shown in iig. 1, drawn more nearly into the plane which vis at right 'angles `to the line of the wind, so as to present to the wind the fans at a more obtuse angle.' It will be evident that in order to present a greater or less angle to the wind, and' thus quicken or retard the. motion of the fans, it is necessary only tomove the sleeve back and forth on the shaft B. l

A's Ithis cannot be done by hand, on account of the height to which the fans arc-necessarily raised, and as, v

at the same time, the sudden and violent gusts of wind which move too rapidly, and thereby strain the attached machinery, I have provided means for automatically retarding the rotation of the fans, as well as devices, all i hereinafter described, by which the saine object may be accomplished-by the attendant on the ground or platform. I l Y Around the sleeve d is a transverse groove, into which iingers ff, on the bar g, slide loosely, being so arranged as to gripe the sleeve, for drawing or pushing it along the main shaft, without interfering with ,the free rotation of the sleeve with the` shaft. The bar y extendsv along above the main double beam C, which supports the shaft Brandis pivoted to a vertical bar, It.' This bar is also pivoted between the double beams C', in such a manner ais to allow vibration in the direction of the main beam and shaft. This double b eam C is bolted on each side of the supports of the shaft, and holds similarlythe guiding-fan H, thus allowing space and support for the weighted arm K'.

The bar h has alsov firmly attached, at right angles to'it, the weighted bar K. This weighted bar, when raised, obviously retracts the bar g and the sleeve, thus flattening the surface o'f theA fans, and retarding their speed. v

In order that this weightedlever may be automatically raised, and easily andY readily lowered from the i ground, I have provided the following devices:

On the vertical supporting-shaft slides a collar, m, consisting of a plain horizontal ring, so arranged as to support the roller K', on the weighted arm K, and permit this roller to move freely when the mill turns on the vertical axis.

Attached to the collar m, and supporting it, is the vertical shaft n, extending down to o r near the floor of the building. This shaft has upon its side a ratchet, u', shown in fig. 3, into which a spring-pawl gears auto' matically, in such a manner that when the shaft is raised the pawl holds it sustained in place.

On the bottom of the shaft is attached a band, rope, or chain, o, which is operated by a roller and crank, p, for the purpose of raising the shaft by hand. Any other device may he used as well. y v

From the crank in the shaft B, depends a pitman, g, so arranged that the' rotation of this horizontal shaft causes the pitman to'rise and fall, by which motion it may operate a pum'p or other machinery. Upon this pitman is another ratchet, g', into which another pawl, q", gears, the pawlbeing pressed into gear by a spring, 1'. This vpawl is attached firmly to the yertical shaft n, rising and falling with its proper motion, and, the whole is arranged in such a manner that when the shaft g rises, the pawl being in gear, the shaft n and collar are raised by the revolution of the fans.

Over the spring-pawl g drops a latch, s, which, when down vin position, holds the pawl out of gear with the ratchet on shaft y. One end of the spring-pawl is pivoted to n. and the other projects forward into guides on the mainvertical column E, and the guides are so curved, lig. 5, that as the pawl rises, the curved Aguides lift it out of gear from the ratchet on the shaft q.

The latch' s projects over the side of the column. This is operated, in certain contingencies,l by a piece, t, which slides freely in-guides l@lg/and carries a pin, twhich is adjustable on the piece t, or it may be fixed, which is `so arranged that when the piece t rises. to a. certain height, the pin t strikes the projecting end of the latch, and throws it olf from' the spring-pawl, thus allowing the spring-pawlto gear at onceinto its proper ratchet. The piecet is provided with shoulders which limit its vertical movement within the guides y y. et represents a lever, provided with a weight, as shown, which latter may be adjusted nearer'or more remote from the fulcrum, as may be desired.

The short arm of this lever is attached by a rope, chain, or other suitable fastening, to the top of' the piece t.

The operation of my improved mill is as follows:

Itlmay be operated by hand, through theerank, and band, or chain, and the ratchet and pawl on the shaft n. When this shaft, with its attached collar, is raised, it lifts the weighted arm K and retracts the arm g, draws back the sleeve, and turning the fans more nearly at right angles to the wind, thus obviously retards the motion of the mill. By disengaging the ratchet u', the shaft n drops and reverses the process. It will, however, be obvious to those familiar with the operation of windmills, that they are liable to heavy strain upon the machinery, and exceedingly unequal speed, unless automatically checked when struck by sudden gusts, as it is impossible for the operator to be constantly on guard against such violent impulses of this motive-power. This difficulty is, however, perfectly obviated by the simple device above described.

When the fans, set obliquely for slow motion, are struck by a gust of unusual violence, the shaft gis quickly drawn up, and with it the piece t, but vas the piece t is not limited in its motion, as is the shaft g, the great momentum received from the violent upward movement of the shaft drives it upward sullicicntly far for its pin, l', to strike the projecting end ofthe latch e, which itvthrows from Ithe spring-pawl, permitting this pawl to be forced by its spring into gear with the ratchet on shaft g, which shaft, in its rise, lifts the shaft n, to which the pawl is attached.

The adjustable pint', in the piecet, may be made an adjustable piece, of any suitable kind, or it may be a fixed projection, or piece of any proper form, and at the proper place ou piece t, so as to detach the proper pawl or latch, when the velocity ofthe mill rises to the point that will cause the piece t to hound sufficiently, so that by means of the adjustable pin t', or other device, as above mentioned, it willdetach the proper pawl or latch. It will beobscrved, however, that' the'piece t, with its adjustable pin, t', or other device, will only do its work when a certain velocity is attained. This velocity must he such as to'cause the piece t to bound, or to be carried beyond the stroke of the pitman to a'sudicient'height, and with sufficient force, to detach the proper pawl or latch. i j v Now, as the above will only control the velocity of the mill when it rises to a certain speed, and as this speed may be greater than may be required, and as it is desired to bring it within the control of the operator, the extensible weighted lever is provided, which is attached to the piece t.

As the action of gravity on falling bodies is depended upon to govern the velocity of this mill, and as falling bodiesfall through equal space in equal time, it'follows, that as the adjustable weight, on lever u, is movedfarther from or. nearer to its fulcrum, in the same ratio will its vibrationsbe fast or-slow; that is, if the weight is moved nearer the fulcrum, thevibrations will be quick, as the space through which the weight passes in each vibration is short, and as the weight is moved farther from the fulcrum, the space through which the weight has to pass will be increased, and consequently the slower will be the vibrations.

Now, as tho lever u is attached to piece t, ifthc adjustable weight on lever uis moved'to its farthest point from its fulcrum, and the mill be in motion, itwill be seen that if the velocity of the mill rises so as to give to the weighted end of the lever 'u a ureater velocity than that of falling bodies, then the vibrations of the lever et and thepiece t will not be in equal time, and the downward stroke of the-weighted end of lever u will cause the piece t to bound, and thus, as before stated, detach the latch. ,i

, It will beobserved that as the weight on lever u is moved nearerv to or farther from its fnlerum, so will the velocity of the mill be less or greater, when the piece t will be made to bound and do its work, by meansl of the pin t', or other device for the'pn'rpose.

The weighted extensiblelever u is for-the purpose of adjusting the millto any desired or required velocity ofthe operator, which it does most eectually. i A

It will be evident, from the-above description, that any unusual or too violent impulse of the wind, by means of my improved devices is made automatically to correct itself, thus producing a more steady and regular motion, by devices in themselves simple and perfectly effective.

f I do not eonne myself to the precise details of pawls and springs, as ready mechanical equivalents of these may be found, nor do I claim movable fans; but having thus described'my invention,

What I'do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A bounding-piece, arranged to operate foi-.controlling the speed of a. windmill, substantially as described'.

2. The combination of a bounding-piece, for y controlling the speed of a windmill, with a weighted extensible leve-r, substantially in the manner described.

3. The collar m, when supported bythe shaft n, and'held by the ratchet .and pawl n', and operated by pulley and cord, or band, and when in combination with the weighted lever K, all. as and forfthe purpose Set forth. y v

4. The ratchet on arm q, in combination with its spring-pawl, when the pawl moves in' guides, and is held by the-dropicatch s, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.`

5. AIn combination with the latch, connected as described, the sliding piece t, with its pin t', moved and operated substantially as and for Vthe purpose set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed, this 18thdayot` April, 1868.

i WALTER PECK. Witnesses:

A. PENNOYER, G. W. FERET. 

